Digital Phase Feedback for Determining Phase Distortion

ABSTRACT

A feedback loop is used to determine phase distortion created in a signal by directly extracting the phase distortion information from a feedback signal using original frequency modulation information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to, and is a divisional of, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/251,169, filed on Oct. 14, 2008, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Polar loop transmitters have applications in many fields, such as radio,cellular radio, telecommunications, and the like. The term “polar loop”refers to a polar modulation transmitter architecture that appliesclosed-loop feedback control to both the phase and amplitude of atransmitted signal by using closed-loop control of the transmitted phaseas well as the amplitude modulation. In general, an important issue inpolar transmitter architectures is the measurement of amplitude andphase distortion in the transmit path (for example, in the poweramplifier). In order to compensate for any amplitude and/or phasedistortions, adaptive predistortion compensation can be applied to themodulation signal. However, dynamically compensating for distortions byusing adaptive predistortion compensation requires feedback from thetransmit signal so as to be able to dynamically measure and compensatefor the transmit distortions. Due to the fact that the modulation signalis applied to the modulator in polar coordinates, it can be advantageousto have the feedback signal also in polar coordinates. Therefore, aphase feedback receiver and an amplitude feedback receiver may be usedto determine the polar feedback signals for compensating for phase andamplitude distortions, respectively.

With respect to the phase feedback signal determination, a Cartesianfeedback receiver may be used to convert the radio frequency (RF)feedback signal down to an analog baseband signal, and then successivelyconvert the analog baseband signal to a digital signal using ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC). Afterwards, in the digital domain, aCartesian-to-Polar conversion can be performed. However, the use of aCartesian receiver, in addition to requiring conversion to Polarcoordinates, can be a cumbersome approach to extracting a phase signal.Another disadvantage of the use of a Cartesian receiver fordown-conversion is the typically high current consumption of thereceiver due to the high signal quality requirements of the Cartesianreceiver. Furthermore, the requirements on the ADC can be significant,as well as the fact that two ADCs are required (i.e., for I & Q paths)to extract phase when using the Cartesian receiver approach to phaseextraction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawing figures, in conjunction with the generaldescription given above, and the detailed description of theimplementations given below, serve to illustrate and explain theprinciples of the implementations of the best mode presentlycontemplated. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a referencenumber identifies the figure in which the reference number firstappears. In the drawings, like numerals describe substantially similarfeatures and components throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating an exemplary polar transmitarchitecture and phase feedback receiver implementation.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for phasedistortion determination in accordance with an exemplary implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part of the disclosure, and in whichare shown by way of illustration, and not of limitation, exemplaryimplementations. Further, it should be noted that while the detaileddescription provides various exemplary implementations, as describedbelow and as illustrated in the drawings, this patent is not limited tothe implementations described and illustrated herein, but can extend toother implementations, as would be known or as would become known tothose skilled in the art. Reference in the specification to “oneimplementation”, “this implementation” or “these implementations” meansthat a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described inconnection with the implementations is included in at least oneimplementation, and the appearances of these phrases in various placesin the specification are not necessarily all referring to the sameimplementation. Additionally, in the following detailed description,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughdisclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart that these specific details may not all be needed. In othercircumstances, well-known structures, materials, circuits, processes andinterfaces have not been described in detail, and/or may be illustratedin block diagram form, so as to not unnecessarily obscure thedisclosure.

This disclosure includes various arrangements and techniques fordetermining digital phase feedback in a polar transmitter or othersystems in which determining phase distortion information is useful. Inparticular, the techniques included involve implementing a circuitproviding phase distortion extraction which can then be used, forexample, to dynamically compensate for phase distortions in a signal. Adisclosed exemplary circuit can be implemented in a variety ofelectronic or communication devices or other systems that may requirephase distortion compensation. Devices that can benefit from the circuitinclude, but are not limited to, polar transmitters including mobilephone transmitters, such as GSM (Global System for Mobilecommunications) or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System).Further, while the following systems and methods are described withreference to a polar transmitter, such as for use in a mobilecommunication device, it will be appreciated that the disclosedtechniques and circuits can be implemented generally in any similarelectronic/communication system.

Exemplary implementations, as will be described in greater detail below,convert the phase feedback signal directly to the digital domain. Thus,in the exemplary implementations, no additional Cartesian-to-Polarconversion is necessary. Additionally, exemplary implementations includedirect extraction of phase distortion information for measuring thephase distortion, which information may then be used for determiningphase predistortion compensation in a polar transmitter or other system.For example, in some implementations, the phase distortion informationmay be sent to a processing block or other device which is able to usethe information to determine coefficients for adjusting phase modulationtransmit characteristics, such as for reducing phase distortion in apolar transmitter or other system.

FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit diagram of a section of a polar transmitterincluding circuitry for phase distortion extraction according toexemplary implementations. FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram for amethod of carrying out phase distortion extraction according toexemplary implementations. It should be noted that the order in whichthe blocks are described is not intended to be construed as alimitation, and any number of the described system blocks can becombined in any order to implement the system and method, or analternate system and method. Additionally, individual blocks may bedeleted without departing from the spirit and scope of the subjectmatter described herein. Furthermore, the system and method can beimplemented in any suitable hardware, firmware, or a combinationthereof.

Example Circuit

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary structure of a polar transmitterincluding a phase feedback receiver according to one possibleimplementation. Exemplary circuit 100 is meant to explain conceptsrelated to isolation and measurement of phase distortion at a basiclevel and the number of components shown does not limit the actualimplementation of circuit 100. Exemplary circuit 100 includes a transmitsignal path 101 and a phase feedback path 103. In the transmit path 101,a reference clock 102 connected to an RF phase modulator 106 passes areference clock signal 104 to RF phase modulator 106. This referenceclock signal 104 is also delivered to a time-to-digital converter (TDC)108 to serve as a reference signal r_(REF) 110, as discussed furtherbelow.

RF phase modulator 106 receives the reference clock signal 104 and alsoreceives a frequency modulation signal 112 from a frequency modulationsignal block 114, and generates a phase-modulated RF carrier or transmitsignal 116. Thus, the frequency modulation signal block 114 appliesfrequency modulation signal 112 to RF phase modulator 106. Phasemodulator 106 receives frequency modulation 112 signal and referenceclock signal 104 and produces phase-modulated transmit signal 116. Insome implementations, the phase-modulated transmit signal 116 is amodulated high frequency oscillating signal having an instantaneousfrequency that is equal to the reference clock signal frequencymultiplied by the frequency of the frequency modulation signal 112. Themodulation frequency signal 112 is applied digitally, so the RF phasemodulator 106 generates the phase-modulated high frequency transmitsignal 116 which is modulated according to digital modulation frequencysignal 112 and, in some implementations, output to a mixer 118. Themodulated transmit signal 116 is then multiplied at mixer 118 with anamplitude modulation signal 120 received from an amplitude modulationsignal block 122 to generate a multiplied transmit signal S_(TX) 124.Mixer 118 may be a multiplier, such as a Gilbert cell, or other devicethat carries out the same function. Alternatively, in someimplementations, the modulated transmit signal 116 can be amplifieddirectly by a power amplifier in place of mixer 118 and amplitudemodulation signal 122 in order to generate the transmit signal 124. Theproposed architecture should measure any phase distortions produced bythe described mixer, power amplifier, or any other non-ideal element inthe transmit path. Phase distortions are often related to amplitudelevel and therefore can be named AMPM distortions (i.e., AmplitudeModulation to Phase Modulation distortions)

In exemplary implementations, a purpose of the phase feedback path 103is to detect any phase distortion of the modulated transmit signalS_(TX) 124 after multiplication by the mixer 118 or a power amplifier,i.e., phase distortion caused by the transmit path 101. A coupler 126therefore traces the signal output from the mixer 118 or poweramplifier. The coupler 126 may be a directional coupler, which is usedto send a signal in the forward direction, and which also provides atraced feedback signal S_(FB) 128, which is derived from the transmitsignal S_(TX) 124, and which may be used in the feedback path 103 fordetermining phase distortion. In order to be able to detect the phase offeedback signal S_(FB) 128, a phase restoration block 130 is used toremove the amplitude information from feedback signal S_(FB) 128. Phaserestoration block 130 may be, for example, a signal limiter or otherdevice or arrangement configured to remove the amplitude informationfrom feedback signal S_(FB) 128.

After passing through phase restoration block 130, phase-restoredfeedback signal S_(PHI,FB) 132 is still a high frequency signal, but nowcontains only phase information, including both the phase modulation andany phase distortion. In order to remove the phase modulation fromsignal S_(PHI,FB) 132, a multi-modulus divider (MMDIV) 134 may be used.MMDIV 134 divides the high frequency signal down to a lower frequencyand at the same time removes the phase modulation. A divider ratiosequence used by MMDIV 134 for dividing the high frequency signal isgenerated by a Sigma-Delta modulator 136 as an input signal 138. Bycausing the input signal 138 of the Sigma-Delta modulator 136 to bebased on the frequency modulation signal 112, the division carried outby MMDIV 134 is able to cancel out the original phase modulation of thetransmit signal if a delay of the modulation signal 112 is matched tothe delay of the feedback path 103. Accordingly, in theseimplementations, a delayed frequency modulation signal 140 that is inputto the sigma delta modulator 136 is exactly the same as the frequencymodulation signal 112 which was used with the reference signal 104 inthe RF phase modulator 106 to generate the transmit signal 116. The onlydifference is that delayed modulation signal 140 is delayed by ΔTcompared to the original frequency modulation signal 112 so as to matcha delay in the feedback signal reaching MMDIV 134.

A delay block delays the original frequency modulation signal 112 tocompensate for the delay which is accumulated from the modulation signalinput of the phase modulator 106 to signal S_(PHI,FB) 132 that is inputto MMDIV 134. In exemplary implementations, delay block 142 isimplemented as an all-pass filter, and the actual delay can beprogrammable. However, this function can be implemented by any othertechnique or device known in the art so that the delay achieved by thedelay block matches the delay in the feedback signal S_(PHI,FB) 132 inreaching MMDIV 134, whereby the output signal 138 of the Sigma-Deltamodulator 136 reaches MMDIV 134 at the same time as the feedback signalS_(PHI,FB) 132 for matching the frequency modulation signal.

First, it may be assumed that the transmit path is ideal, i.e., does notadd any phase distortion. The delayed frequency modulation signal 140 isreceived by Sigma-Delta modulator 136, which outputs to the MMDIV 134 adivider ratio 138 (i.e., a divisor) corresponding to the ratio betweenthe instantaneous carrier frequency and the reference frequency, andwhich also corresponds to ratio between the instantaneous frequency ofthe feedback signal S_(PHI,FB) 132 and reference frequency, so that thecarrier frequency is reduced to reference frequency and original phasemodulation added by RF phase modulator 106 is removed. In exemplaryimplementations, Sigma Delta modulator 136 outputs an instantaneousdigital integer value corresponding to the delayed instantaneousfrequency modulation signal 140, and this integer value is used as adivisor by MMDIV 134 to reduce the frequency of the feedback signalS_(PHI,FB) 132 for removing the original phase modulation. Accordingly,after compensating for the delay in signal S_(PHI,FB) 132 through use ofthe delay block 142, the original phase modulation portion of thefeedback signal S_(PHI,FB) 132 is removed by MMDIV 134, resulting in anoutput signal r_(PHI,FB) 144. The divider ratio changes with a ratewhich is a number of times higher than the bandwidth of the originalmodulation (oversampled) so that on average the division tracks theoriginal modulation. The mean value of the chosen divisor is chosen todivide the carrier down to the reference clock rate.

Now the case will be considered in which the transmit path produces somephase distortion due to non-ideal analog components. The output signalr_(PHI,FB) 144 output by the MMDIV 134 has a mean frequency that isequal to the frequency of the reference signal r_(REF) 110 output by thereference clock 102. Also included in the MMDIV output 144 is the phasedistortion of the transmit path without the original phase modulationdue to removal by MMDIV 134. Accordingly, the phase of the output signalr_(PHI,FB) 144 relates to the reference clock phase, including anyconstant phase shift, plus any phase distortion added by the transmitpath 101, i.e., the phase modulator 106, the mixer 118, and by the phasefeedback path 103. By comparing the output signal r_(PHI,FB) with thereference signal r_(REF) 110, the phase distortion caused by the phasemodulator 106, the mixer 118 (i.e., the transmit path 101) and phasefeedback path 103 can be determined. Consequently, to be able to measureonly phase distortion of the transmit path, any phase distortion causedby the phase feedback path 103 needs to be small in relation to thephase distortion caused by the transmit path elements, such as the mixer118 or power amplifier, in order to not further distort the measurementresult. The time difference of the MMDIV output signal r_(PHI,FB) withrespect to the reference clock 110 can be quantized and converted to thedigital domain by Time-to-digital Converter (TDC) 108 and output as adigital signal 148. The TDC operates by comparing, for example, therising edge of reference clock r_(REF) 110 with the rising edge ofr_(PHI,FB), producing an output which is a digital quantized numberrelating to time difference between rising edges. If there is nodistortion in the feedback path, then the output of the TDC will be aconstant number relating to any constant phase shift between referenceand feedback signals. If, however, the transmit path includes somedistortion, then this distortion will be present at the output of theTDC 108 in the form of a quantized time delta.

Additionally, Sigma-Delta modulator 136 may introduce additional noiseto the phase of the output signal r_(PHI,FB) 144. Most of the energy ofthis noise however is at high frequencies due to the Sigma-Delta 136characteristic, so the noise can be attenuated by a digital lowpassfilter 150. Accordingly, following this attenuation, the feedback path103 generates as output a digital signal PHI_(FB) 152, which isproportional to the phase distortion of the transmit path 101 (exceptfor a constant offset), as long as the additional distortion coming fromthe phase feedback path 103 is small. This difference phase signalPHI_(FB) can then be sent back to the RF phase modulator 106 todynamically correct the phase error in the transmit signal (polar looptransmitter), or the signal can be used to calculate phasepre-distortion characteristics (predistortion) for use in compensating atransmit signal in a non-dynamic way. Accordingly, implementations areappropriate for applications including polar modulators, polar looptransmitters, pre-distortion systems, or any transmitter system where itis desirable to improve or have knowledge of the phase characteristicsof the transmitted signal.

Example Method

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 200 fordetermining phase distortion in a polar loop transmitter, pre-distortionsystem, or the like. The method introduced may, but is not required to,be implemented at least partially in architectures such as illustratedin FIG. 1. The order in which the method below is described is notintended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of thedescribed method blocks can be combined in any order to implement themethod, or an alternate method. Thus, it is to be appreciated thatcertain acts in the method need not be performed in the order described,may be modified, and/or may be omitted entirely. Additionally,individual blocks may be deleted from the method without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware,firmware, or a combination thereof.

At block 202, a reference clock signal and a frequency modulation signalare used to generate a transmit signal. In an implementation, thetransmit signal is generated by an RF phase modulator referenced to areference clock, where the RF phase modulator generates the modulatedtransmit signal based upon the received frequency modulation signal andthe reference clock signal. Optionally, the transmit signal may also bemultiplied or amplified following modulation.

At block 204, a trace signal is derived from the modulated transmitsignal for use as a feedback signal. In an exemplary implementation, acoupler is used to derive the trace signal for use in a feedback loop.

At block 206, phase restoration of the feedback single is carried out ifthe transmit signal was mixed or amplified following generation of thetransmit signal and prior to derivation of the feedback signal. In anexemplary implementation, the transmit signal may pass through anamplifier or multiplier prior to derivation of the feedback signal fromthe transmit signal. In these implementations, a signal limiter may beused to remove amplitude information from the feedback signal. Block 206is only necessary if the amplitude of the signal has been affected, suchas through use of a multiplier or amplifier on the modulated transmitsignal, or in any case where amplitude modulation is used to conveyinformation.

At block 208, the frequency modulation signal is delayed to match thedelay of the feedback signal. In an exemplary implementation, an allpassfilter is used to delay the frequency modulation signal.

At block 210, a divisor is derived from the delayed frequency modulationsignal. In an exemplary implementation, a Sigma-Delta modulator is usedto determine a divider ratio to use as a divisor for reducing thefrequency of the feedback signal, whilst removing the original frequencymodulation.

At block 212, the frequency of the feedback signal is divided by thedivisor determined in block 210 to remove the modulation from thefeedback single so as to obtain a feedback signal having only the phasedistortions plus the reference phase. In an exemplary implementation, amulti modulus divider receives the divider ratio information from theSigma Delta modulator, and the multi-modulus divider uses the divisor todivide the higher frequency single down to a lower frequency.

At block 214, the feedback signal is compared to a reference signal todetermine a time difference representing the phase distortion portion,and the phase distortion portion is output as a digital signal in theform of a quantized time delta. In an exemplary implementation, thefeedback signal output from the multi-modulus divider is delivered to atime-to-digital converter which uses the reference clock to extract thetime delta from the feedback signal and convert the time delta portionto a digital output signal. Thus, the output signal from themulti-modulus divider is compared with a reference signal from thereference clock to determine the phase distortion of the modulationpath. Optionally, in some implementations, the digital signalrepresenting the phase distortion is then passed through a low passfilter to remove any noise added by the Sigma-Delta modulator.Accordingly, the method results in a digital difference phase signalthat represents the phase distortion produced by the transmit path,assuming that any phase distortion produced by the feedback path issmall compared to the overall phase distortion.

Exemplary implementations provide advantages that include that the phasefeedback receiver does not measure the absolute phase of the transmitsignal but only the difference from an ideal phase modulation signal.This greatly reduces the resolution requirements of the time-to-digitalconversion. Due to the fact, that the ideal phase modulation signal isexactly known, because it is the same signal as that which is applied atthe RF phase modulator 106, the generated difference signal very closelyequals the actual phase distortion. Furthermore, exemplaryimplementations do not require a dedicated ADC, let alone the two ADCsthat are required when using a Cartesian demodulation approach toextract phase. Instead, in exemplary implementations, only a single TDCis used.

As will be apparent from the foregoing disclosure, implementationsprovide for a phase feedback path which determines the phase distortionof a transmit signal by using a phase restoration block, a multi modulusdivider whose divider ratio is switched by a Sigma-Delta modulator, anda time to digital converter. The known phase modulation is removed fromthe feedback signal by the multi modulus divider, so that the TDCmeasures only the time difference between the feedback signal and theideal reference signal generated from the reference clock, thereforeproducing a measure of phase distortion. This determined time differencerepresenting the phase distortions added primarily by the transmit pathcan be used for adaptive predistortion compensation calculations inorder to compensate for the phase distortions of the transmit path(e.g., from the modulator and multiplier or power amplifier).

Further, it should be noted that the system configuration illustrated inFIG. 1 is purely exemplary of systems in which the implementations maybe provided, and the implementations are not limited to a particularhardware configuration. In the description, numerous details are setforth for purposes of explanation in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to oneskilled in the art that not all of these specific details are required.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that methods and apparatuses fordetermining the phase distortion of a transmit signal are provided.Additionally, while specific implementations have been illustrated anddescribed in this specification, those of ordinary skill in the artappreciate that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the samepurpose may be substituted for the specific implementations disclosed.This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of the disclosed implementations, and it is to be understoodthat the terms used in the following claims should not be construed tolimit this patent to the specific implementations disclosed in thespecification. Rather, the scope of this patent is to be determinedentirely by the following claims, which are to be construed inaccordance with the established doctrines of claim interpretation, alongwith the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

1. A method comprising: generating a first signal from a referencesignal and a frequency modulation signal; deriving a feedback signalfrom the first signal for use in a feedback path; dividing a frequencyof the feedback signal using a divisor determined according to thefrequency modulation signal to remove phase modulation from the feedbacksignal; determining a phase difference between the feedback signal andthe reference signal; and outputting a digital signal that isrepresentative of the phase distortion of the first signal caused atleast in part by the generating of the first signal.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: amplifying the first signalprior to deriving the feedback signal from the first signal; andremoving amplitude information from the feedback signal prior to thedividing.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:passing the digital signal through a lowpass filter to remove noiseadded to the feedback signal.
 4. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: delaying the frequency modulation signal to match adelay of the feedback signal; and using the delayed frequency modulationsignal to determine a divisor for dividing the feedback signal to removethe phase modulation from the feedback signal.
 5. The method accordingto claim 1, further comprising: using a time-to-digital converter fordetermining a time difference between the feedback signal and thereference signal, and for outputting the digital signal representativeof the phase difference, said digital signal representative of the phasedifference corresponding to transmit phase distortion caused at least inpart by the generating of the first signal.
 6. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: using the digital signal representative ofthe phase difference for adaptive predistortion compensation forcompensating for phase distortion in the first signal caused by atransmit path including a modulator that generates the first signal.